Gyroscopic compass for ships



H. C. FORD AND H. L. TANNER.

GYROSCOPIC COMPASS FOR SHIPS.

APPucATlon min nic. 5. |919.

Ressued Mur. 29, 1921. 15 072.

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. invsn'rons HANNIBHL (lf-'ORG Ano RY L -TRNNER- L Mgg??? Y `THEIR Arr UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HANNIBAL c. FORD, OF JAMAICA, AND HARRY L. TANNER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNORS Iro sPERRY GYROscOPE COMPANY, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

GYROSCOPIC COMPASS FOB. SHIPS.

Specification of Reissued Letters Patent. Reissued )Iain 29, 1921.

Original No. 1,278,759, dated July 23, 1918, Serial No. 106,121, tiled June 27, 1916. Application for reissue illed December 5, 1919.

To all whom it may concer/n.

Be it known that we, HANNIDAL C. FORD and HARRY L. TANNER, citizens of the United States, residingr at Jamaica, L. I., and Brooklyn, New Xork, respectively, in the counties of Queens and Kings, respectively, and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gyroscopic Compasses for Ships, of which the following isa specification.

This invention relates to gyroscopic compasses and has for its Object to provide a simple, practical gyro-compass of large effective c irective. power especially suited for the navigation of ships or similar moving vehicles. V

Furthermore, this invention consists in safeguarding the operation of the gyro-compass against disturbances such as oscillations,- acceleration pressl'ires, motions, etc., received from the ship, by providing such compass with suitable damping,.ballistic, compensating Vand stabilizing factors.

Some of the general problems which are overcome by this invention and the broad principles of operation of this invention are set forth in our joint patent for improvements in gyroscopic Compasses and methods of controlling the same, No. 1,27 3,7 99, July 23, 1918,01 which the present application is a continuatiomcontaining for themost pai't matter divided from the application for said patent.

Referring to the drawings inl which-like reference characters denote like parts throughout, Figure 1 is an end elevation partly in section of a gyro-compass con structcd according to this invention. Fig.

2 is a side elevation thereof. Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of the dash pot which'con nect-s two portions of the bail.y Fig. 1s an enlarged side elevation partly in section of thecompass casing and the bail, showing in detail the supporting means for the parts. Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig.. 2. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail, being a sectioi taken on line 6 6, Fig. 4. Fig. 7 is a corresponding view to Fig. 6 of a modified form of coupling. t f

As'explained in our aforesaid application, one of the main objects of this invention is to eliminate deviations of the compass due Serial No. 342,825.

to rolling and pitching of the ship without providing a cumbersome stabilizing means for all parts of the compass. In the particular embodiment illustrated, this idea is shown as applied to a compass supported on a mercury float, although it will be understood that the broad principles herein outlined and claimed may be applied to any other type of suspension. `The compass is shown as supported in the -usual gimbal rings 1 and 2; the ring 2 serving to support the member 3 within which` is mounted the receptacle 4 for the mercury A circular fioat 6 is supported by the mercury 5 and carries the entire azimuth movable unit. This comprises the compass card 7 shown as supported by means of brackets 8 from the float and bracketsl) which support the central stem 10. The said stem is-attached adjacent its lower end to an open frame 1.1 and is Vjournaled adjacent its top 12 within va spider 13 attached to Support 3. The frame work 11 is journaled near its base in an Outer frame 14 also attached to frame 3 so that lateral oscillations of the compass with-. in the mercury are prevented. The float 6 is also shown as carrying suitable annular rings 15 of mercury in which lingers 16 dip. whereby current is led into the gyroscope. The open frame work 11 is provided with a. pair of downwardly extending arms 17 in which the rotor bearing casing 18 is journaled on horizontal pivots 19, 20'. The pivots are preferably positioned'at, or near1 the center of gravity of the casing, and a pendulum relied upon to impart more or less ballistic propelties thereto and to form a yielding connection betweeli the casing and frame 11. In other words, the compass casing is Anot sufliciently pendulous to give 11, together with all supported parts. is. of course, pendulously suspended from float.

6-ithe wholel compass having its center of gravity below the pivots of the gimbal rings 1 and 2. Said pendulum 30 is preferablyy so ,eonstructed as to have freedomof-'I movement with respect to the casing about ,i

y y e ane, that is', inthe plane i of the rotorand is so desi" ed as to have a or in the east-west p very long period -of oscillation in this plane. It is well. known that a single gyroscope will stabilize itself in all. 'pleines `except 1nk the plane of the rotor or parallel thereto, so that arunstabilized gym-compass is free to oscillate in the east-west lane. As eX- plained in oui` aforesaid app ica-tion, `'We' do not attempt to stabilize the entire gyroscope,

but may merely ystabilize a portion of the gyroscopic system by which means the point of application of a portion at least ofthe pendu osity is stabilized; For this purpose we prefer touniversally sup rtithe. pen-f dulum so that it may oscillate in both planes.

A horizontal ring 21 is pivoted within frame above axis 22, 22 so that about said axis the pendulum is 'converted' into a compound pendulum. i

We sus@ prefer tti/,provide a, stabilizing syroseope mounted within thnendlilm in` such a mannerfas to oppose such oscillations. i A convenient mountingis .shown yin the lfigures in whichthe gyioscopey is sup` ported enga horizontal spinningait1s28 for freedom about a vertical axis 29 within the fr ame 34. For eentralizinet the' gyroseope wlthin the pendulum a small tension spring 35may be provided. f

While wear@ awfre that broadiy it is @la i n y i n i casing conform more or less closely to the proportions of the rotor, both in order to 't0 Previa@ en auxiliary .syrsope 0111; gyroscopic compass but by mounting the stabilizing ,gryrofscope for lndependent precession with respect to the partto be stabil `ized,naar@ enabled to .sijnpley` a mucjh at 32 to the outerv part.

smaller ,stabilizing 'gyroscope than wonld otherwise be necessary. Also the 'necessary size ofthe stabilizing. gyroscope is furtherreduced `by `our stabilization" of portion only of the suspended gyro-unit or its associated parts. i l

For reasons hereinafter explained we pre` fer to construct the pendulumintwo parts of 30 and 31, the inner part 31 being,` pivoted The inner part 33', on the rotorl casing 18. The said part 31 supports the frame 34 for the gyroscope 27. The connection between the pendulum and the rotor casing comprisesa roller, 36 or other antifriction means, connected preferably to the vertical shaft 37 supporting;r

the gyro casing and rolling between the twok flanges 33and 33'A on the gyro casing.

(See Fig; 6.) For damping this form of. compass, we prefer to employ means operating directly `abol'lt th horizontal axes, i A yielding motion' tesis' connection between the pendulum or a portion thereofr and the gyro casing is employed2 for this purpose, this connectionpreferably being placed between the auxiliary pendulum 31 above described and endulum 30. More specifically the two pen ulums are connected by means of a yieldin" dashpot 40vwhich is so constructed as to a low only extremely slow movement even underl heavy pressure. Under these conditions it` will be seen thatthe tivo parts of the pendulum act as a `unit for all short oscillations. If the oscillations have eX- tremely long periods itwill vallow the pendulurns to move with reference to one another, constituting an effective means fordamping long period oscillations by ap lying forces directly about the horizonteJ supporting axis 19, 20 of the casing 18. This dash pot is illustratedin detail in Fig. 3i, and consists of la casing` 4'1 secured to the-outer pendulum 30 and designed toy hold oil or like substance within which is submerged adouble piston 42.y Each end of the piston is preferably hollow, as shown at43, 44 so that the s e- V cific gravity of thejpiston is unity `with re erence to the subrnerging` oil'. A slotted stem 45 which 'engages over the pin 46 on the pist n serves to connect the piston with the allXi iiiy pendulum' 31- `'The weights 26,` 26` also serve to equalize the moments of inertia `of theV suspended portions of the `aplutratus about `the two principal horizontal taxes., To secure efiicie'ncy in a `ilglyro-wheel itis `advisable to desig-n it sost at it has` considerably greater dimensions diametricallythanaxially. It is also foundnecessary to make the inclosing "the bail 30, are necessarily proportioned accordingly.. By the laws of mechanics, if such an unbalanced body is suspended and oscillated likey a pendulum in any "lane but a plane parallely to `its principa axis, a torque will be exerted on the body tending to turn` it into -su'ch a planev and causing 1t to oscllatefuntil it comes to rest in the plane. As'v applied to a compass, it will at once be seen that such an effect yis very undesirable,

since it would cause serious deviations if the compass were oscillated about the Cardan supports inwany plane but the plane of the rotor. Weights 26', `2.6 positioned beyond the general outlines of the disk-shaped casing 12, furnish a ready means of overcomingr this defect by equalizing` the moments about both horizontal axes.

Fig. 7 shows a slightly modified form of connection between the pendulum and the casing which consists merely in replacing the `single roller 36 by a couple'. of small steel balls, 38, 39, which roll between the `flanges 33, 33 on the casing and recesses in the walls of pendulum 31. f v

' From the above description it will be evi- 6 dent that we have devised a'simple but eiective means for preventing deviations of a gyroscopic com ass due to rolling in intervcardina planes preventing osc1 lations of short duration o? the ballistic pendulum in 10 the lane of the rotor. By employing the weig ts 26, 26 in the manner specified ,and

by use of the stabilizing gyroscope 27, we

are enabled to give the pendulum a very long period in the plane of the rotor and at the same time retain its full ballistic properties about axis 24, 25. The damping action of the'dashpot `wlll be readily apparent, asy

-it furnishes an effective means for absorbing the energy4 ofi-Ithe compass during oscilla'- 2c. tions.

In accordancewiththe rovsions ofthe patent statutes, we have erein described the principle of operation of our invention,

together with the apparatus, which we now 26 consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but we desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is-only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means. Also, while it is designed to 30 use the various features and elements in the combination and relations described, some of these may be altered and others omitted. without interfering with the more general results outlined and the invention extends to such use.

Having described our invention, whatwe claim and desire to secure by Letters Pati ent is 1 l j 1. In a gym-compass, a rotor bearing frame, means for mounting said frame so as to be free about the vertical axis and for oscillation about aA horizontal axis, a ndulum mounted independently of said me, an auxiliary gyroscope connected to l4&5 said pendulum, and a coupling between said pendulum and said frame.'

2. In a gym-compass, a rotor bearingA frame, means for mounting said frame so as to be free about the vertical axis and for oscillation about a horizontal axis, a pendulum mounted independently of sald frame, an auxiliary gyroscope connected to said pendulum, and a coupling between said pendulum and said frame, said gyroscope 6b serving to maintain said coupling in a redetermined relation to a vertical p ane through a predetermined point on the frame.

3. In a v ro-compass, a universally sup- 60 ported, pen ulousv support, a rotor bearing Vmember pivotally supported on said support and a yielding, motion resisting, connection between said support and said member.

4. In a gyro-compass, a unlversally sup- 66 ported, pendulous support, a rotor bearing member pivotally supported on said support and a connection between said support and said member which yields to persistent pressures, but is substantially rigid against pressures or oscillations of short duration. l 5. In a gyro-compass, a support, a rotor and rotor bearing casing pivotally mounted thereon on a horizontal axis at an angle to the spinning axis of the rotor, a universally supported pendulum and a coupling between said endulum and casing. v V

6. n a gym-compass, a support, a rotor and rotor bearing casing pivotally mounted thereon on ahorlzontal axis at an angle to the spinning axis of the rotor,a -universally supported pendulum and a'. coupling between sa1d Pendulum and casin which allows independent oscillation o said parts in planes parallel to the rotor. 7. In a gym-compass, a support, a rotor and rotor bearing casing pivotally mounted thereon on a horizontal axis at an angle to the spinning axis of the rotor, a universally supported endulum, a coupling between said pendu um and casing, which allows independent oscillation of said parts in planes parallel to the rotor and anauxiliary .gyroscope for stabilizing said pendulum in such lanes. 1

8. n a gym-compass, a support, a rotor and rotor bearing casing pivotally mounted thereonvon a horizontal axis at an angle to the spinning axis of the rotor, a universally supported pendulum, a coupling between said pendulum and casing, which allows independent oscillation of said parts in planes parallel to the rotor and means for increaslng the' period of the pendulum in such planes.

9. In a gyro-compass, a support, a rotor and rotor bearing casing pivotally mounted thereon on a horizontal axis at an angle I to the spinning axis of the rotor, a universally supported pendulum for imparting more or less ballistic properties to -the casing, about its pivotal axis, and means for increasing the period of the pendulum about the other horizontal axis.

10. In a gyrocompass, a. support, a rotor and rotor bearing casing pivotally mounted i thereon on a horlzontal axis at an angle to the spinning axis of the rotor, a universally supported pendulum for imparting more or less ballistic properties to the casing, about its pivotal axis, and means for increasing 120 the .period of the pendulum about the other horizontal axis comprising a counter-balancing mass.

l1. In a gym-compass, a support, a rotor and rotor bearing casing pivotally mounted thereon on a horizontal axis at an angle to the spinning axis of the rotor, a univer-V sally supported pendulum for imparting more or less ballistic properties to the casing, about its pivotal axis, and means for in- 13 l`12. In a gyro-co'mpass, a support, a rotor` and rotor bearing casing pivotally mountedy thereon on a `hor1zontal axis at an an` le "to the `spinllring axis of the rotor, a n 'ulum for imparting more or less ballistic properties to the casing'fabout its pivotal axis, yand means for increasing the period of the pendulum comprising an auxiliary gyroscope connected therewith.

13. In a gym-compass, a support, a rotor and a rotor bearing casing pivotally mount-` ed thereon on a horizontal axis atan angle to the spinning axis of. the rotor, a pendulum universally pivoted thereto and a coupling between said pendulum and casing,

said coupling containing a damping means.

14. In a dampin device for slowly os- "cillating masses, t e combination with a principal oscillatory mass, of' an auxiliary oscillatory mass and connections between said masses including a motion resisting medium.

15. In a dampin cillating masses, t "e combination with a principal oscillatory mass, of anauxiliary oscillatory mass having a different natural y period, and connections `between .said vmasses includlng a motlon resistingmedlum.

n 16. In a damping device for slowly oscillating masses, the combination with a principal oscillatory mass,'of an auxiliary oscil-l latory mass having a shorter natural period,

and connections between said masses Includ ing a motion resisting medium.

17. In a gyro-compass, a rotor bearing frame, means for mounting said frame, so as to be free toturn about the vertical axis and for oscillation about a horizontal axis, and means acting directly about said hori-4 zontal axis .for damping the oscillations of the frame about thesaid vertical axis.

18. In a gyrocompass,a frame 4 pivotally mounted about vertical axis, a rotor bearing casing `pivotally mounted thereon about a horizontal axis, a pendulousldevice pivoted thereto about ahorizontal axis, anda connection between said device and said casing containing a yielding, motion resisting member. n A

19. In a gyro-compass, a `frame pivotally mounted about a vertical axis, a rotor bearing casing pivotally mounted thereon about a horizontal axis, a pendulous device pivoted thereto about substantially thesame axis, a liquid' receptacle carried by saidy pendulum, and a vane or plunger movable within said receptacle. and connected with said casing so as to be moved by its oscillations.

20; In a gyroscopic apparatus, a rotor adapted to spin upon an axis, nand having less dimensions axially than diametrically,

device for slowl os-'- a frame or case for said rotor con-forming in its general proportions to said rotor, means for supportin said frame so as to have an axis yof osci lation at an angleto said spinning axis, and a mass located beyond kthe general outlines of said case in the axial direction and supported by said frame supporting means.

21. In a gyro-compass, a gyro organized for.three degrees of freedom, a pendulum mounted forroscillationy independent of the r gyro, and a dash pot for damping out oscillations, connecting said pendulumand gyro, r including a piston having a s ecilic gravity` of substantially unity referre to the liquid in which'piston is submerged,

22. In a gym-compass, a gyro organized for three degrees of freedom, apendulum mounted foroscillationsrindependent of the gyro, and a dash pot for damping out oscillations connecting said pendulum and yro organized. for horizontal movement inc uding a piston having a specific gravity of substantially unity referred to theliquid in which lston is submerged.` i

23. n agyro compass, a support mounted :for orientation,f a .rotor bearing frame mounted thereon for oscillation about a horizontal axis, a pendulum `also mounted on said support foroscillation about both horizontal axes, and a floating connection j between said pendulum and frame.

24. In a gyro compass,a support mounted for-..orientation, a rotor bearing frame monnted thereon. for' oscillation about a horlzontal axls, a pendulum also mounted `on said support for oscillation about both horizontal axes, a gyroscope connected thereto t0 increase the period thereof about one of said axes, and a floating connection between said pendulum and frame.

25. In a gyro compass, a supportmounted for orientation, a rotor' bearing frame mounted thereon for oscillation about a horizontal axis, a plurality of pendulums also'mounted on said support for oscilla 'on about both horizontal axes, one of saidlem dulums being directly connected tol said frame, and a yielding, motion resisting connetion between said pendulum and the other pendulum.

y26. In a g roscopic compass, asupporting frame whic together with its contained parts is pendulously mounted, and a 4direcr.

mounting, yielding means for centralizing the same, and a yielding connection between said mounting and said directive gyroscope.y

press precession causing torques due to mo tions of said platform.

29. In a gyroscopic compass, a rotor and rotor bearing casing, a pendulously supported frameon which said lcasing is `mounted for oscillation about a horizontal axis, means acting between said frame and casing for imparting more or less ballistic properties thereto, and a stabilizing gyroscope mounted on said frame for precession about an axis at an angle to said horizontal axis.

30. In a gyroscopic compass, a rotor bearing casing, a frame for sup rting the same for oscillation about a horlzontal axis and turning about a vertical axis, and masses supported by saidmframe and positioned on opposite sides of the casing in a north-south direction. y

31. In a gyroscopic compass, a rotor, a rotor bearing casing, a supporting frame in which said casing is supported on ahorizontal E-W axis,zand masses supported by said frame and positioned on opposite sides of said casing 1n theN-S direction.

32. In a gyroscopic compass, Va gimbal ring, an-outer frame pivoted thereto,v which together with its. contained parts is pendulous, an inner support pivotally mounted axis within said support.

about a vertical axis and supported and `guided by said frame in upper and lower bearings, and a rotor and rotor bearing casing pivotally mounted about a horizontal 33. In a gyroscopic compass, a gimbal ring, an outer frame pivoted thereto, which together with its contained parts is pendulous, an inner frame pivotally mounted about a vertical axis and guided by said outer frame in a lower bearing, a rotor and rotor bearing casing pivotally mounted about a horizontal axis within said inner frame, and a connection between said casing and the iframes for applying a torque about said horizontal axis on inclination of said casing.

34. In a gyroscopic compass, the combination with a universally supported frame, of

a gyroscope, means for supporting the same in said frame for oscillation `about a horizontal axis at a less distance from its center of gravity than necessary for imparting suicient pendulosity thereto, pendulous means luniversally supported in said frame and connected to said gyroscope for increasing the pendulosity thereof, and a stabilizing gyroscope mounted on said means.

35. In a gyroscopic compass, a gyroscope, means for supporting the same for oscillation about a horizontal axis, pendulous means connected to said gyroscope for vimparting more o r less pendulosity thereto, and a stabilizing gyroscope mounted on said means.

In testimony whereof, we hereby aix our signatures:

HANNIBAL C. FORD. HARRY L. TANNER. 

